 
Contact Address:
ASSERT
Association of Small Scale
Enterprises in Responsible Tourism
AU Highway
Brufut
(by Ida Chams cooking school)
P.O. Box 4587 Bakau New Town
The Gambia,  West
Africa
Tel no: +220 7749277
Email: admin@assertgambia.com
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Information:
ASSERT stands for the Association of Small Scale Enterprises
in Responsible
Tourism is a tourism business advisory service.
The organisation offers a wealth of knowledge from their
board and existing membership as well as providing various
training courses. ASSERT offers micro-financing
packages and preferential loan rates to its memebers.
The association is supported by the Gambia
Tourism Board as well as other stakeholders. It
has also received support from the British High Commission.
Their Role:
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Provide support to members with
product development, quality control, marketing,
access to finance and training. |
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Contribute to sustainable development of the
Gambian Tourism Industry by utilising the practice
and principles of Fair Trade in Tourism. |
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Contribute to improving the tourism industry
in The Gambia and partisicipate in the country's
development. |
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The defence of small-scale business interests
in the tourist industry |
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Develop partnerships with other institutions,
government and external organisations where suitable |
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Highlight suitable quality standards for members |
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Work collaboratively, encourage networking and
joint activities amongst members |
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The continuance of good relations between ASSERT
and comparable organisations in other countries. |
ASSERT
are also the founders of the Gambias Good Market in
partnership with the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP)
to provide a market platform for 'Made in the Gambia'
products produced by youths varying from arts and craft,
natural health and beauty,
fashion and accessories, and more.
Furthermore, the association organises the Sunday Market
in partnership with the Senegambia Beach Hotel to provide
market access for craft market sales people and also
as a counter balance to the all-inclusive hotels.
In its drive to advocate for responsible tourism, ASSERT,
among other things, partners with Travel Without Plastic
(TWP) in organising workshops for members to discuss
the hazards of plastic and alternatives to plastic usage.
Their History:
In 1999 Gambia Tourism Concern partnered with The British
High Commission and ran a tourism workshop. This brought
together various organisations and associations engaged
in the sector. These institutions suffered from a suffered
from a lack of organisation and were at the margin of
the tourism sector. Several were in competition and
often conflicted with each another. The workshop recognised
the necessity for small organisations to work together
to enhance the economic benefits for the people working
in them.
The Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism
(ASSET) was established in April 2000 by Adama Bah and
Sheik Tijan Nyang with the aim of bringing together,
advocating for, and promoting many small enterprises
that were operating in the tourism industry.
These businesses included juice pressers and fruit sellers,
craft market vendors, official tourist guides, tourist
taxi drivers, as well as some guest houses, small hotels
and ground tour operators etc.
Within five years over eighty organisations joined its
membership, had hosted an international conference on
Fair Trade in Tourism and had been recognised by the
then Gambia Tourism Authority (GTA) as an important
vehicle for the more marginalised.
It had become a leading organisation in the Gambian
Responsible Tourism Partnership programme that was being
steered by the GTA. That programme brought together
the key stakeholders in the tourism industry (tour operators,
hoteliers, government, small scale businesses and ground
handlers to ensure that the adverse effects of tourism
were reduced and that maximum benefits were received
by local people and their communities.
In 2005 ASSET was awarded with the Best for Poverty
Reduction at the First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards
held at the World Travel Market in London, England.
The event was sponsored by First Choice Holidays PLC
in partnership with responsibletravel.com, Geographical
Magazine, The Times newspaper and the World Travel Market.
In
June 2018, ASSET rebranded itself to better reflect
their commitment to Responsible Tourism and ASSET was
re-named ASSERT.
Travel
Tourism
Organisations
Gambia
Tourism Board |
